Little kids, big trouble
by Lexi Cade
Summary: What would it be like if the whole gang had kids? How would their lives change for the better and the worse?
1. Prologue

"Daddy, Daddy," Cried out little Ariana as she tugged on her dad, Darry Curtis's, pant leg. She was getting fussy and irritable, rubbing her eyes and yawning without trying to. It was obvious that she was exhausted after playing with her cousins, Apollo and Alana. Apollo was Soda's five-year old son and Alana was Pony's three-year old daughter. And Alana, not being that old herself, was only five years old, just like her older cousin.

Darrel looked down at his daughter before picking her up onto his hip, smiling at her, "What is it, little one? Tired?"

Ari shook her head fast, "I not tired..." But as she tried to get more out, a yawn escaped and she continued to rub her closing eyes.

"Oh, yes you are, little one." Darry sat her down on her couch, given that she was too frightened to sleep in her own bed. "And plus, if you don't go to bed now, you won't be able to see Faith and Hope, Kolt, Nicholas, and Ethan tomorrow." Darry said, referring to her friends, but also they could be considered family. The twins, Faith and Hope, are Two-bit Mathew's kids. Kolt is Steve Randle's kid. Nicholas, often referred to as Nick, is Dallas Winston's kid. And Ethan is Johnny Cade's kid. Ari's eyes bugged and then they closed quickly, as she tried her hardest to fall asleep.

Darry let out a small chuckle as he wandered to his recliner that he always sat in then closed his eyes, smiling lightly. He was glad that his daughter finally decided to take a nap. He was exhausted horribly even though he knew it wouldn't be easy. Will it ever be easy?

(Short For A Reason)


	2. Same old mornings, same old ways

~Eight Years Later~

"GRRRROOOOWWWWLLLL!" Alana growled out and was on all-fours. She was trying to impress Ethan and Apollo with her amazing impersonation of a tiger, which was her favorite animal of all time. Alana's stringy brownish red hair was dangling in her eyes and it was disrupting her vision. All Apollo and Ethan could see was her greenish eyes that had a bit of gray in them.

"Pretty neat, Lana," Ethan said with a genuine smile on his tanned face. Unlike his daddy, Ethan's hair was a light brown and his eyes were a bright blue, kinda like the ocean. Ethan was a bit on the shy side but really opened up around his family and/or his friends. He crinkled his little nose, which he used from habit, and watched his best friend continue to act like a little tiger cub that lost its mama. Out of the whole little 'gang' that they created, Alana was the one that was most likely to make something of herself and get a good job fat away from this run-down town that they lived in. He was sure of it.

"Yeah! Great job, little cousin," Apollo yelped and grinned ear-to-ear, almost tempted to get down on the grown next to her and pretend to be a bear, his favorite. His sandy blonde hair was longer than most boys have theirs, mostly because he says it looks tuff and refused to get it cut. And no matter how old he was (Witch was 13), he still loved to act as if he was only 5. It was the instincts inside of him that made him like that. His bright ocean blue eyes sparkled with happiness mixed with excitement and a smile plastered on his slightly freckled face.

Alana stood up from her earlier position and twisted her torso while stretching and flinging her naturally curly hair back and forth. Her best friend and cousin clapped their hands together wildly and Apollo whistled even though what she did wouldn't really be considered outstanding or amazing. "Thank you very much!" Her hair still swayed back and forth as she smiled from Apollo to Ethan.

Just as the eleven-year-old was about to sit down on the brown worn-out couch in her living room, Ariana Curtis ran in and skidded to a halt, "Hey, guys, we gotta-AH!" Before she could even finish her sentence, she was picked up and placed over a shoulder.

"Damn, Ari. We're you always this strict?" Joked the rough, but somehow soft, voice of Nicholas. His eyes were a beautiful blazing blue and his blondish hair fell perfectly over his forehead as he gave a devilish smirk, bringing his right hand down hard on her butt before letting her go and watching her fall to the ground.

Ariana gasped and blew hair out of her face, glaring up at Nick who was hovering over her, "That's a lot, Nick," She muttered sarcastically, "and how many times have I told you not to curse around my eleven-year-old cousin? Hm?"

Alana's ears turned bright red at the mention of her name but Nick just shook his head, snorting, "Damn ain't a bad word, hun. Think of a beaver Dam."

"It's still not pleasant to hear at her age," Ari grunted in disgust as she pounded one fist on the hard floor. Ethan, being the gentleman he was, grabbed her hand in a light grip and helped her stand up. "Oh, and thanks, Ethan." She said, her voice immediately going soft.

Ethan's cheeks flushed as he looked down quickly, "It was no big deal,"

Ariana smiled before turning to look at everyone else, "Now, as I was saying, we need to be at the bus stop, like, in half an hour." She was dressed head-to-toe in pink sweat pants and a very light blue shirt, wearing her perfect brown hair in a long side ponytail with some of it hanging over her right shoulder. Her makeup (She was the ONLY one in the 'gang' that wore it) was done surpurbly and for a split second, she looked like a Soc. It was very weird.

Nicholas made a disgusted sound in his throat as Alana nodded at her older cousin's words before taking off out of the living room and into hers. Nicholas then smirked at Ariana, who in return crossed her arms. "So," his eyebrows rose as he pulled at the fabric on his body. "are you a Soc now or something?"

Ariana gasped while Ethan's and Apollo's jaws dropped. "Uncalled for, Nick," Ethan whispered in a extremely quiet voice, shaking his head in a very disappointed way as his brown hair flopped from one side to the other.

"Yeah, man, why would you accuse my cousin of becoming a sock-eating Soc?" Apollo felt the need to add some good old-fashioned Curtis humor that his dad, Sodapop Curtis, created as his attempt to make the once happy morning turned gloomy become happy again. And it somewhat worked, considering that he saw Ariana fight back a small smile.

Nicholas rolled his bright blue eyes and scoffed before muttering something that sounded like "Yeah, yeah, okay,". His lip soon curled up into a small smirk again as Ariana took out her ponytail, which had became messy because of a certain Nicholas, and she combed her fingers though her beautiful locks. Nick's eyes watched her and he grew even more interested as she tied her hair back up, letting it hang back over her shoulder.

He didn't even realize that he was looking at her face until her voice broke into his, somewhat perverted, thoughts, "What are ya' staring at, Mr. Smartass?" Ariana only cussed when Alana wasn't around, which wasn't often, so you better believe that she curses when she has the oppurtunity.

Nicholas blinked his eyes and licked his lower lip while trying to keep his face looking as cool as ever. He slowly but frantically tried to rake through his mind for a lie. _Think, man, think, _he yelled at himself, not wanting himself to look, act, of sound stupid until a grin appeared on his flawless face. Then, he said, "Oh, nothing much, just that you got a few bats in the cave if you know what I mean..."

Her face turned bright red and she clenched her fists at her side before stomping off to the kitchen, grumbling about how immature Nicholas was.

Apollo raised his eyebrow at Nicholas before bursting into a fit of laughter. "Damn," he gasped out, still laughing. "That was funny as hell!"

Nicholas just smirked and threw a pillow at the laughing boy.


	3. Not a very good start to Halloween

"THIS IS HALLOWEEN! THIS IS HALLOWEEN!" (Sorry, I just had too :p it is Halloween after all!) Alana and Apollo chorused as they took a seat at the kitchen table after Alana got dressed and her dad, Ponyboy, made them some eggs and bacon. Ariana had her back to them, angrily and quite noisily, grabbing a cup out of the cabinet, slamming the door. Her face was still red with anger and she brushed a finger under her nose just to make sure that Nicholas wasn't right about what he said about her having 'bats in the cave' even though she knew he only said that to make her mad. She turned back to her two cousins and slammed the glass cup on the table, almost shattering it.

"Hey, HEY! Ariana! What's wrong with you? You could've broke my cup!" Ponyboy yelled out as he picked up the glass cup and examined it, seeing if there were any cracks that were visible. He shook his head and breathed on the cup a bit, taking the bottom of his shirt and wiping some of the smudges off of it although he was lucky it wasn't broken.

Ariana sighed and frowned, turning her head to face the floor as she carefully took a seat. "Sorry, Uncle Pony," was all she muttered as she rested her head on her arms. Her mind was muddled and her chest was aching terribly. She felt like if someone said something she would snap like a twig. She was extremely and horribly angered. That Nicholas angered her badly.

"Honey," Ponyboy took his attention away from that glass and looked at his troubled, teenage niece. He knew something was up. "Are you all right? What's wrong?" He took a seat next to Ariana and Apollo as he placed a very calming hand on her shoulder.

Apollo was about to say what had happened but he saw the brief look that Ariana gave him when she lifted her head and he decided it would probably be better to keep his mouth shut.

Ariana didn't really want Apollo to tell their uncle about Nicholas and how he acted to her. She didn't even know why it meant so much to her what he thought. All she knew was that she did. She looked over to Ponyboy and her eyes were surprisingly holding tears that would eventually fall, "I just want Dad. I had enough, and I just want my dad."

"What do you mean 'you've had enough'? And your dad's at work, hun," Pony spoke to her in a soft voice as he looked at her saddening eyes and the one tear threating to roll down her cheek.

"I don't wanna talk about it... I just..." She couldn't even talk now and she bit her lip to keep from fully crying. Alana, who was beside Ariana, looked at her sadly and tilted her head to the side, putting her hand on Ariana's back.

"Ari?" Alana whispered.

"Alana, Apollo, can you please head to school?" Ponyboy asked them, giving a look that meant 'no arguing, just go'. Alana and Apollo nodded simotamiously as they slowly left the kitchen. Ariana laid her head back down on her arms as she let out a breath of air.

Ponyboy slowly stood up and looked down at the clearly sad girl, and ran his hand over his face. "Your not going to school today," he finally said in a raspy voice, "I'm calling Darry and he's gonna pick you up and take you home, I honestly don't think you're in ANY condition to be going to school." and with that, Pony disappeared into the living room to grab the phone.

Ariana just stared at the wall ahead of her, wiping away a tear angrily. Then her eyes landed on the knife that lay on the table where Ponyboy left it. _Maybe I'd be better off gone_, she thought with a bitter expression.

FOR THOSE THAT ARE ANGRY WITH ME, I'M SORRY Dx

AND FOR THOSE CONFUSED, ARIANA JUST THOUGHT ABOUT SUICIDE

IF THAT IS A TOUCHY SUBJECT FOR YOU, STOP READING

AND YOU CAN THANK NICK AND HER ABUSER (YOU'LL FIND OUT WHO THEY ARE) FOR HER THOUGHTS


	4. Bus stop and mystery

"How do you think Ariana is doing?" Apollo asked his younger cousin on their walk to the bus stop with Ethan and Nicholas. Truth be told, Apollo and Alana were both extremely worried about Ariana. The way she had acted this morning so wasn't like her and everyone knew it, even Nick who secretly hided his worry as well.

"Good, I hope," Alana muttered as she kicked a rock, sending it flying through the air and right into the back of a teen's head. Alana widened her eyes and threw a hand over her mouth, obviously sorry that she did that. Ariana just worried her too much for the little girl to handle.

"Ouch!" Yelped the black-haired thirteen year old as he reached for the back of his head where the rock hit and whipped around, eyes narrowed. His bluish-green eyes landed on the very frightened Alana as she tried to stutter out her apology, to no avail. "You brat!" the boy exclaimed.

"Kolt, calm down, it was an accident," Apollo calmly said, placing a hand on his best friend's shoulder. Kolt narrowed his eyes once more before rolling them and letting out a huff of breath. He absolutely hated Alana but he had to try his best to control himself around her...for Apollo's sake.

"Fine," Kolt turned to his bright, doe-eyed best friend and almost, ALMOST, let a grin find its way upon his lips. His friend could make anyone smile. But, something kept coming up in his thoughts. One question he was just dying to ask because it was bugging the hell outta him. So, he asked away, "Hey, where's Ariana? She NEVER misses school!"

Alana and Apollo both shared a glance as Ethan looked at his worn-out sneakers and Nicholas crossed his arms boldly over his chest. Apollo was looking at Alana as if to ask, _should we tell? _and Alana just barely shrugged her shoulder. The sandy-blond sighed and turned back to Kolt. "She's not comin' to school today because of...things..." he said, kinda awkwardly.

Kolt just stared at him blankly before suddenly smirking and raising his eye brows up and down quickly. "Oh, 'things'..." He started chuckling deeply to himself before stopping and nudging Apollo. "Hey, don't look now, bud. But the two hotties are comin' our way."

That was true. The twins, Hope and Faith, were coming their way. They looked almost identical except for the fact that Hope wore glasses and Faith didn't. Hope always wore a shy smile, while Faith's lips were curved into a smirk. Hope was more like Apollo, and Faith was more like Nicholas and Kolt mixed together. Apollo's jaw dropped as Hope went over to him, while Faith walked to Kolt. Hope's long, beautiful blond hair was done neatly in a ponytail as her glasses sat undisturbed on the bridge of her nose. She clung her books to her chest desperately as if she was afraid someone would knock them away from her. The ocean-blue eyed, movie star handsome boy couldn't help but fall for the natural beauty that was all Hope Raine Mathews.

Faith was different than her sister, being all leather jackets and black jewelry. Faith held her head high and smirked wickedly at Kolt who was basically drooling all over the floor. Kolts brown eyes stared her up and down, his heart beating quickly. Man, she's hot! he said to himself as he made a grin appear on his slightly parted, parched lips.

The twins smiled.

~Back with Ariana~

Darrel Curtis's eyes were blazing as he parked the car, tore the keys out of the ignition, and started at a dead run for his little brother's house where his little girl was. He was freaking out from the phone call that he had recieved from Ponyboy telling him that his daughter needed to go home right away. She just wasn't all right. Darry's brain was all fuzzy and his mouth was staring to taste like rusty metal as his eyes turned into a scorching blue color. He ran straight inside and slammed the door, his eyes wide as he looked at what was waiting for him. "Ari...?"


End file.
